Country Living Series

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Preparedness 101 - #14 - Be careful what you wish for

Now that our family has gotten involved in “prepping” – and more interestingly, now that I’m blogging about it – I’ve become aware of a certain subclass of preppers who apparently long for the bleep to hit the fan.

Oh, not overtly of course. I doubt anyone will be so bold as to come out and say that. But you can hear the little cackle in their cyber voices as they talk about all the bad things that will happen and how they’ll live through it as a result of their brilliant preparations, tactical training, and munitions storage. These are the people with a “Nyah nyah nyah, I’m prepared and you’re not!” attitude/mentality.

I have to admit, this attitude makes me sick. The end of the world as we know it may indeed someday happen – and if it does we’ll all cope as best we can, or at least go down swinging – but by God don’t long for it.

The fools who actually wish for the bleep to hit the fan have a few things in common. They’re fairly advanced in their preparation efforts. They’re probably rural, possibly even off-grid. And they are understandably fed up with the moochers of our society – the entitlement class who believes the world owes them a living and that our wealth should be redistributed in their directions.

These preppers long for hard times because they’re tired of being taken advantage of. For whatever reason, they are so seriously disturbed by the direction our country is heading that they feel a cleansing purge is necessary to be rid of the vermin and scum. (Which, of course, never includes them.) They’re tired of supporting freeloaders and of being taxed to death. They are angry and fed up, and short-sighted enough to think that a major catastrophe will balance the pendulum.

Of course it won’t, but they’re feeling smug about their own preparations and think they can weather anything. But these people don’t think things logically through to the end. They don’t think about what may happen to their grandmother in the nursing home or their best friend from college whose son is on diabetes medication. All they’re seeing is those selfish greedy people who have their hands perpetually out, wanting handouts and entitlements – and TEOTWAWKI will show them, by golly.

What this class of preppers won’t admit, of course, is that among the “vermin and scum” there will be many people whom they love deeply, but who just couldn’t or wouldn’t do any preparing of their own, and/or were unfortunate enough to be caught up in circumstances beyond their control.

TEOTWAWKI will not mean our country will be a nuclear wasteland with zombie-humans staggering around. (At least, I hope not.) Rather, it simply means things will change. The easy, moderate life we’ve always lived, and all the goods and services we’ve taken for granted, may no longer be possible. This change could be gradual (kind of like what we’re experiencing, now that I think about it) or it could be sudden.

But one thing I know for sure – no matter how prepared you think you are, you’re not going to like it when it happens. It ain’t gonna be pretty. There will a lot of innocent people caught up in something that could be ugly and beyond their control. Whether it’s a nuclear war or an economic collapse or any other natural or man-made catastrophe, it could potentially affect billions (that’s with a “b”) of blameless people. Do you really “long” for something so horrible just to prove you were smart enough to store some beans and rice?

These types of preppers have a twisted notion that TEOTWAWKI will be a sort of cleansing – painful at first, but ultimately beneficial and useful. And perhaps it will, a hundred years down the line. But do you really want to witness that cleansing? Do you really want to watch innocent (and clueless) people swept up in a tsunami of hardship, trouble, chaos, and death? Do you really want that?

I, myself, regard the future with fear and trembling for the people who may get hurt, the harsh decisions I may have to make, and for the everyday luxuries I take for granted which may not be available. Who would wish for that? No one sane…or at least, no one who has thought things through intelligently and logically.

That’s why I’m suggesting you improve your attitude and don’t wish hard times on anyone. While many are preparing for TEOTWAWKI, please, I beg you, don’t long for it.

31 comments:

There are so many Christians (and others) that think nothing bad will happen in our lifetime "because this is America after all" or because "the rapture will come before it gets too bad" so they refuse or deny the need to prepare.

I think its pretty normal human behavior to want to be proved right, but in this case it has terrible, devastating consequences. Sometimes I've even been guilty of thinking, "one day they'll see that I was right" but then I go on to think about how I'd feel the responsibility to help take care of my immediate/extended family as much as I could during a time like TEOTWAWKI. So it just makes me plan/prepare/store even more.

I know not everyone has the funds to prepare for/beyond their extended family, heck, we hardly can either. But the least we can do it reason with our family to do SOMETHING...ANYTHING!

Thank you so much for writing this. I was talking the other day to some "preparedness folks" who were saying that when "it" hits the fan, if anyone comes on their property begging, they'll "just shoot 'em." Clearly, they hadn't thought through the ickiness of having to dispose of dead, potentially diseased, bodies. As a Christian, it broke my heart to hear them speak that way. I am grateful that the Lord has laid it on our hearts to be prepared, but we can't blame others for not sharing that conviction. Should something happen, I hope I'll have the grace and the guts to help others unless it is a detriment to my loved ones.

Wise words indeed and thoughts that I have had as well. I pray that if there is a collapse, that it be gradual, allowing us time to adapt slowly. I doubt that most of the preppers that wish for the TEOTAWKI will enjoy it. There was a PBS show on a few years back where they took three modern families and put them back into a mid 1800's lifestyle up in Montana. They didn't do so well, and most of 'em sure didn't seem to enjoy it.

I remember helping to build a cabin and a couple of other buildings at a college homesteading course one summer. Using an adze to square off logs; cutting shingles; boring holes for mortise and tendon joints; cutting/splitting wood by hand for the wood stove and fireplace. My hands blistered over and were so sore the first couple of weeks I couldn't hardly use them. By the end of the summer, my hands were callused as hard as a pair of gloves. Are folks really ready, or able, to do this? Young folks might be, but what about those of us now 50 and beyond? What about those in poor health? Diabetics, or those with high blood pressure,severe arthritis or other debilitating diseases? Folks get these diseases sometimes through no fault of their own. Are we to just say 'tough luck, roll over and die?'.

My one hope is that I've been involved in local disasters and I've seen that folks usually pull together pretty well. Often they pull together and help their neighbors out without being asked too by their government, they just do it because it's the right thing to do. I'm betting that things just might go that way even if there is a TEOWATAKI event.

WOW...You just said a mouthful of excellent wisdom, and I agree, but it gives me pause to add this.... Eventhough I don't live downtown Anywhere,USA and don't see myself in that subclass of preppers, I do feel the anger building everyday as the news of new crap crosses my tv. When they start talkng how bad it really is on the daily news and even PS Gibbs said yesterday that jobs are not coming back for a 'very long time'with a smirk on his face....it angers me that the average citizen can't see the writing on the wall, heck it is almost in neon! Why don't they get Prepared? Nobody wishes bad stuff on anyone and preppers don't 'long for it'....instead they have a little less stress and should not feel guilty for being a little ahead of the ball. If you think you are reading an 'Attitude' of some preppers in their posts, could it maybe be a way to not marshmellow just how serious things really are and that new readers who are just learning might sense an increased sense of urgency to get prepared...like Now? What I 'wish for' is everyone to have beans and rice stored and ready.....I don't wish cleansing of the population, but what I do care about is the USA. We don't have the time to wean the people off all the entitlement programs to save our Country, so it IS going to be harsh. There are plenty of smart and $able people that choose to ignore the future...and I have no pity for them. If they are too blind to hear/see the future outlook of our country, I have to assume they are the sheeple who voted this distructive administration in. I want my Country back when this is all said and done, not some weak slushpool of equality...The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live.

Bill, I saw that same broadcast, and I have to say I was embarrassed by the attitudes and incompetence displayed by nearly all the participants... embarrassed, but not surprised.

Do you recall what the primary failure was?It was their refusal to cut and stack sufficient firewood. As I recall, the most egregious slackers rationalized it with that same three-word phrase heard all too often in far too many circumstances and which is a chilling reminder to me of a very common American mindset: "IT'S NOT FAIR!!"

To my ears this ubiquitous phrase is the ultimate utterance of hysteria stemming from a mindless sense of entitlement so pathological it's quite possibly the malignancy that will doom millions. We hear it everywhere, but nowhere does it currently resound as loudly as it's heard from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The I.N.F.ers (It's Not Fair!) and the N.N.P.ers (Nyah-Nyah Preppers) Patrice wrote about all do seem to have one important thing in common: they appear to live in an epistemological vacuum. They don't think, they just feel. They don't earn, they just deserve.

I agree with what Patrice wrote, and I wonder if these folks, especially those who profess to be Christians, are prepared for the inevitable consequences promised to those who wish ill on others. As Jesus might put it, "Have you not read....?"

I see frequent postings on *prepper* forums about "WHEN it happens", almost never "IF it happens". Some of the posters seem to hold their grim religious beliefs dearly...an interpretation of the Bible that they believe means THEY will survive and a few even hope to "be martyred for the Lord".Quite frankly, those people scare me.

I *prep* for several reasons. I believe that the Bible tells us to, I live in a hurricane prone area, it helps with my budget,and I am able to help others who are going through rough times.

I do not look forward to TEOTWAWKI.IF it happens within my lifetime, I know I will see untold suffering--if I live through the first part of it.It breaks my heart that so many people have made virtually no preparations, though.

I live where Hurricane Ike hit full force a couple of years ago. The newspapers, t.v., radio, ALL media outlets gave this area ample warning. Many people chose to evacuate, many people chose to stay.But, many of the people that chose to stay made no preparations for the storm. They didn't store ample water or prepare a way to cook with the power outage. It totally confused me...and still does to this day!

Does anyone think they have found the perfect solution to what lies ahead? Who among us has the perfect attitude toward those who are making no preparations whatsoever? Don't know about you guys, but I'm just trying to fake it until I can make it, because like you, I've never walked this way before.

Folks, I've got to say that it does concern me that I have 40 plus relatives within walking distance of my prepared home and none of these relatives are preparing in any way, despite my warnings that hard times are coming.

In fact, watching some members of the extended family go on cruise/island vacations and others repeatedly going on one week jaunts to out of state tourist attractions makes me very sad, perplexed, and wondering what is my responsibility toward my husband's kin (OK, so maybe after 28 years of marriage they are my kinfolk too).

I've lost many nights sleep wondering what is the extent I'll need to provide for them. Do I cash out retirement and pay penalties in order to buy beans and rice for them while they play today? Do I only prepare for my immediate family of four, just to have the extended clan deplete my 1 year stock in a matter of days? Would we then all huddle in hunger together? At least they could tell some lovely stories of beautiful islands, blue waters and gentle breezes to take our minds off our starvation!

No.....I think not, 'cause I might slap someone and yell, "I told you this day was coming!!!" And since no one likes a "I told you so" kind of person, I needed this situation to take a different direction. I need a Plan B...

So this became my Plan B:

I've warned the extended family over and over so my work with them is done. Yes, done!

I've stocked one year for my immediate family, so my work is basically done (at least the pressure is off as I build slowly for the second year).

Lastly, I've sent supplies for the local feeding mission, providing them with grinders, tools, wheat, beans, canned goods (thousands of dollars in supplies) and I've literally taught the director HOW TO make bread to feed the masses. I've talked about and provided books on survival, how to cook long term storage supplies, how to grow a garden, how to wash clothes without electricity. I've given water filtration systems and helped them locate their nearest water source should they lose municipal water.

I've encouraged the mission director to teach her congregational members to get their own house ready with a year of food, plus for them to start bringing some beans and rice to the mission so that it is the church that meets the needs and not the government. My work within the community is done.

So when that dreadful day comes and people start showing up at my house, I'm lovingly directing them to the mission where I've sent the food. God is their source, I am not.He was already making provisions for them while they were playing.

Patrice, couldn't agree with you more. Those who wish for TEOTWAWKI may get much more than they bargained for.

I am a prepper. It seems to me that a citizen of the USA should be prepared for emergencies so that they are an asset and not a liability. Those who are injured or infirm will need help, and those who are able should help themselves. I hope to be able, and plan accordingly. I don't want to be someone who paints "HELP US" on my roof.

I am not sure I want to survive TEOTWAWKI. That would be far too much for this old heart to withstand. I invite your readers to pick my house clean if that happens. Here's my address:1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC. Come and get it. (joking, of course)

I'm not a Christian-(Wicca)-and I'll tell you that I'm just starting to find out about preparing...I've done the basic things that most of us do--you know a couple months of toilet paper, toothpaste, etc., but lately I've been totally paranoid (or so I thought) that I don't have enough in case something happens. So I've found these blogs and I'm learning all about canning my own food and I'm starting now...I'm just worried that I'm learning about this too late, you know? I know that there are a lot of people out here who are working so much and they are living paycheck to paycheck and they can't prepare for something that MIGHT happen when they have to pay for the stuff they need right now--their rents, their utilities, food for their families, etc. I don't feel angry that they aren't preparing for something to happen because honestly, they CAN'T. They just do not have the resources. That's where I was recently and now I'm a little better off so I can start to prepare for something...I'm all excited because I just bought my first canning jars today...=) At least I'm starting and hopefully I can get something started so I can at least help out my immediate family...

I think it's very interesting, incidentally, that people of totally different religious backgrounds are hearing the "call" to prepare...That scares me that something is going to happen in my lifetime (I'm 42). =( Okay, I'll say bye now--I really appreciate your blog and I read your friend Enola's blog as well. You two are a fountain of information and I, for one, appreciate it. Have a great night everyone...

Learning more about "prepper community" and some of their insular extremism, I can't help but think they're hurting their cause.We need healthy messages in society about taking responsiblity for yourself and your family, planning for a rainy day or lean times, and being prepared. It should just be the normal, healthy responsible thing to do. We went from kids learning to "be prepared" in Boy Scouts/Girl Guides, to people now dismissing these concepts as extremist and reactionary. Sad.

Planning and preparing for hard times while hoping for the best, should be a practical concept. I know I've harped on this before in previous posts, but I'm so struck by the fact "prepping" somehow became heavily politicized. I think we all have to work harder to include people no matter what their political stripes in the conversation. I'm NOT a liberal but I certainly don't want to see anyone unprepared, and think we'll all be better off as more of us take practical steps to be responsible and be able to feed our families no matter what.

P.S - Patrice, your blog is fantastic. I've never followed a blog until now, but look forward to reading it daily. You've found the perfect mix of lightheartedness, practical ideas and solutions, serious concepts, and an window into the rural life. Thank You :-)~Clare

Excellent post. Said something similar on my blog today, just a bit different. I personally doubt that we are going to see anything that previous generations have not seen. Read that last sentence a time or two and think about it before you pass it off as flippant. Hard times come and go as do disasters. The magnitudes vary. They didn't call the World Wars that because they were local little conflicts but never the less, there were places on the planet not significantly impacted.

I do believe hard or bad times are coming. I hope they don't and that the gathering clouds simply dissipate but I'm not going to just "hope". I've been warning my friends and relatives recently that things could get pretty rocky and they ought to get ready. I really don't think there will be a bunch of people who are not prepared that didn't hear some kind of warning.

To me the greatest frustration is the lack of community involvement in preparation. Individuals are not going to be able to handle things and hold out by themselves for extended periods of time. Communities will. Unfortunately I suspect that a preparedness mentality is absent even in most small towns these days. I know I'm getting ready but I dearly wish I lived in a community that was doing so as well.

Excellent post. Said something similar on my blog today, just a bit different. I personally doubt that we are going to see anything that previous generations have not seen. Read that last sentence a time or two and think about it before you pass it off as flippant. Hard times come and go as do disasters. The magnitudes vary. They didn't call the World Wars that because they were local little conflicts but never the less, there were places on the planet not significantly impacted.

I do believe hard or bad times are coming. I hope they don't and that the gathering clouds simply dissipate but I'm not going to just "hope". I've been warning my friends and relatives recently that things could get pretty rocky and they ought to get ready. I really don't think there will be a bunch of people who are not prepared that didn't hear some kind of warning.

To me the greatest frustration is the lack of community involvement in preparation. Individuals are not going to be able to handle things and hold out by themselves for extended periods of time. Communities will. Unfortunately I suspect that a preparedness mentality is absent even in most small towns these days. I know I'm getting ready but I dearly wish I lived in a community that was doing so as well.

One thought that crosses my mind is that for alot of prepper types "It" has already happened. Now the rest of the world needs to catch up.

For so many out there who have watched their money get drained in biased family courts, educations become useless and never given a chance because they "didn't fit the right racial or gender slot" there really isn't much left for them in the current society.

Perhaps they are not hoping so much for TSTHTF as they are for a level playing field to open up once again. They look forward to a time when each person is judged by their ability and not by a quota set to right a perceived or rightful wrong from 100 years ago.

Perhaps there is a direct link between prepping men and expatriot or men withdrawing from society overall.

Perhaps it isn't so much hoping bad things happen to others as it is a chance to use the skills god gave them that seem to be unappreciated and un-needed in todays Western Society.

To Bill S. I have never heard of a college homesteading course. What on earth do they teach? My father taught me how to build a fire and the other night my husband watched in amusement as I built our campfire. And much to his chagrin, it took and blazed just fine and he told me he didn't think I knew how to build a fire. I just never had to before because he always did, but I remembered what my father had taught me and did just what he had showed me.

I also am trying to have some extra provisions on hand but we are my no means "totally" prepared. I think people are more prepared in some areas and less in others, and we will never really know where we fall short until the time comes. Hopefully, then we can barter with neighbors.

We can do the best we can and be prepared as best we can. We have to rely on the Lord's help in difficult times.

Very well said. It also reminds me of people who are well trained and prepared for an intruder into their home, or to accost them if they carry, and appear to wish for such a confrontation- to actually wish to take a life, regardless if they are a criminal. No one is beyond redemption until their last hard-hearted breath. It should be seen like insurance for your car or home- who would wish to see their home burned to the ground or a loved one in a terrible accident? I would seriously question the character and integrity of such people, and they should actually get some psychological help. Ron M.

We've never been "preppers" per se; however, as another person noted above, we live in a hurricane-prone area and have to be ready every year for bad storms and cessation of services for days to weeks at a time. It doesn't happen every year, but it is prudent to prepare just in case. Many do not. Every year in May, it is time to evaluate the cabinets for the stockpile of supplies that were consumed over the winter and replenish.

I've been feeling very, very uneasy about the economy over this past year, and instead of going to the grocery store and buying 5 lbs. of rice, I've been going to the warehouse store and buying 50 pounds. Instead of a pound of dried beans, I've been buying 10 lbs.

However, we live 30 miles from a large city and, if TSHTF, I know that whatever food supplies that I have gathered for the family will not be enough for a million in need and that we cannot possibly defend a 70s style ranch house from a hungry and desperate mob that we wouldn't have supplies for. I sincerely hope that more and more people will start gathering their own emergency supplies so that any hungry mob will be of a manageable size!

Bill, I saw that same broadcast, and I have to say I was embarrassed by the attitudes and incompetence displayed by nearly all the participants... embarrassed, but not surprised.

Do you recall what the primary failure was?It was their refusal to cut and stack sufficient firewood. As I recall, the most egregious slackers rationalized it with that same three-word phrase heard all too often in far too many circumstances and which is a chilling reminder to me of a very common American mindset: "IT'S NOT FAIR!!"

Anonymous---you're right about the wood. I remember their 'expert' really taking them to task about slacking off in regards to the woodpile. He said that they needed to be out there spending much of their day cutting and splitting wood for the winter.

And you're right about the 'it's not fair'....which to me is just incomprehensible. Not fair? So? Who says? It's life! If you don't want to shiver in the winter, get busy splitting wood! I just don't understand the 'it's not fair' mindset, but it is rampant in our country.

Truly, whenever I start feeling self-satisfied about the state of our preps I simply look at my very young children and my burgeoning belly and think about the hard life that would lay ahead for us all... especially since any one of their births would have resulted in my death in a post-TEOTWAWKI scenario.

Nothing like imagining my husband left alone with three children under three to care for to get me down on my knees praying that this burden never fall on our shoulders.

To Bill S.I have never heard of a college homesteading course. What on earth do they teach? My father taught me how to build a fire and the other night my husband watched in amusement as I built our campfire. And much to his chagrin, it took and blazed just fine and he told me he didn't think I knew how to build a fire. I just never had to before because he always did, but I remembered what my father had taught me and did just what he had showed me.

Rose--it was a 'learn by doing'. There was an old log cabin in bad repair to be torn apart and put back together. Then a small barn for the animals; a hen house; a wood shed; a smoke house. We had to figure out how to chink 'em tight, what was the best material to use for chinking them. Wood shakes had to be split using froes and a tree. And with tools, you have to keep them sharp, so a grinding wheel had to be set up.

Then, a wood cookstove was installed in the cabin and we had to learn to work that! Wood cookstoves take some getting used too. You have to learn what burners to use for which food you are cooking. You need to keep it banked at night, so that you can get breakfast going in the morning without having to wait an hour for the stove to heat up. You have to let 'em cool down and 'black' them once a year or so to keep the rust monsters at bay.

And then, there's the leather harnesses for the working animals. How do you make them, use them and care for them? The list just goes on and on. There's so much that we have forgotten in just the last hundred years.

And for anyone who thinks you can take what's in a book and immedietly apply it, you're dreaming! The book is a guide, and actually doing what's in most books is quite a learning experience.

Girl, you have hit a nerve here! This piece is generating a lot of good comments.

I hope you won't mind my posting a second time, but given all these shared thoughts and observations, I want to share a little secret personal 'ritual' I've practiced most of my life, which is making it a point to always try and build a one match fire. Regardless of where or why I'm building one, I approach making each and every one with only a single match, as though my life depended on it. Eccentric? Silly? Maybe...but in a post-SHTF scenario it's a skill that really could literally be a life saver.

Our big deep dark family secret was, for decades, that we're a bunch of mixed-breed indians. (Not that that makes us unusual in this country, truth be told...) however, even though the reality wasn't acknowledged, many of the cultural values, skills and practices were quietly handed down to me. I was taught to hunt and fish and walk and think in ways that have graced my life in countless situations, but in no wise will they ever serve me better than if TEOTWAWKI does occur in our lifetime.

Save the Canning Jars (C.J.!): I was relieved to read your post sharing your resolve on how to handle the potential situation with your 'fun-loving' money-spending grasshopper in-laws. It shows wisdom and fairness, in my opinion, and I'd love to have you for a neighbor.

Very well said ,Ive spent alot of time reading many prepper and survival sites, yes there are many people who beleive there prepaired for anything and i hope they are ,myself yes im a prepper i do have supplies,guns,plans,and many other things for hard times , but i also beleive if ppl are in need you help them you dont shoot them if they come looking for help.to the ppl who beleive they should shoot anyone who seeks help , the tide will turn on them when they run short on supplies and need help.Lets hope those times never come.

I read your posting and all the comments and following I went to this blog and read the title article about Soros and I think all of you need to read this, it explains a lot, not very exciting but it does give understanding of what we are up against and the one comment said it all!standupamericaus.com 'Who is George Soros'

Being post #27, I don't know if anyone is going to see this, but I've got to share this none the less:

Moments ago, I had just finished reading Patrice's column on WND titled, Not Your 1930's Depression, when a family member walked into the room with today's edition of our local newspaper.

On the front page was news that the local feeding mission (the one that my family supports) had been broken into and robbed. The tiny 4 ft. something director (the one I taught to bake bread for the masses) was on the cover explaining how she had been sharing the love of Jesus with an individual that someone cautioned her to stay away from. Well, the mission was robbed in the night.

In Patrice's article, she pointed out that people will steal instead of work to meet their needs and this point was certainly the case in our community.

In the WND piece, Patrice describes a time when instead of someone offering to split firewood for a meal, grandma gets tied up, perhaps pistol whipped or worse, and robbed. The work ethic seems to now be gone.

Our family has been sensing the very thing Patrice has described. In fact, we've been taking our grandma to the range and to private classes in order to get her ready for concealed carry.

In re: our Wiccan friend's comment that many people "can't" prepare because they have to spend their funds taking care of their families right now.

Unfortunately, most of the people who say they "can't" prepare because they don't have the money are in that situation because they have oodles of credit card debt that they amassed trying to "keep up with the Jones'."

That was the reason my family never really prepared for the future, because we were so swamped with debt (a direct result of our own immaturity, I admit, the inability to resist saying, I want it now!).

I've been trying to prepare for the last four years, to limited success. Recently, I read a book that changed all that - "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey.

Now, we have an allocated spending plan that has prepping as a line item. We see exactly where our money is going and we no longer give in to the "inner child" screaming for a treat.

It's a liberating experience. If only every wage earner in the U.S. would declare their independence from debt, we could actually be in a position to revive our country economically.

This post is so well written. Thank you for sharing you heart in not wanting suffering for others or yourself. Isn't there enough suffering all ready? I see it daily. I cannot imagine if we all had less than we do what it would be like for us all. My mother is in the nursing home. She is paralyzed and has been for 10 years. She cannot speak. What would happen with her? I will need to bring her home. I will need to learn to do many things I do not know how to do. I will need to leave my job. I am a widow. How will we function. With God's help is how. With what little preparation I have done and hopefully the help of others who will come in and spend a bit of time so I can run to the grocery or pharmacy. Those who are so brave have no suffered enough to talk intelligently on this subject.